


Ends of the Earth

by AdelaideFitzgerald



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 11:22:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17344373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdelaideFitzgerald/pseuds/AdelaideFitzgerald
Summary: Annie and Jeff have been sporadic fwb for the six years following their final year together, hooking up each time Annie comes home from interstate. When Annie moves home permanently, the couple must re-evaluate their relationship and their feelings for each other.





	Ends of the Earth

**Author's Note:**

> Vignettes from a currently unwritten fic that follows Annie and Jeff's relationship post-finale (2015-2020). 
> 
> This was inspired by The Vignette Challenge (http://vignettechallenge.com/2019/01/about), as I'm in grad school and it won't get written any other way. Hopefully once I'm done mid-2019 I can write the actual fic, but for now...
> 
> The title is taken from the Lord Huron song 'Ends of the Earth' (aka the Community series finale song).
> 
> (There will be sex later, don't worry).

The first time it happened was a few months after she had left for good. It was Christmas Eve and Jeff had gone to The Vatican for a drink with Britta, who was going to her parents' for Christmas for the first time in years. Only he had walked in to find Annie, sitting with a glass of champagne, and a smile on her face that was like a punch to the stomach.

A thousand comments sailed through his brain as he stared, slightly dumbfounded, and he grabbed at one randomly.  
"Are you here for Hanukah?"

"Hanukah's over!" she laughed, rolling her eyes "The lab is shut down for Christmas and college is on Winter Break, so I thought I'd come back for a week. I thought I might…see my mother, maybe" she trailed off, fingers twisting around the stem of her glass, and Jeff slid into the booth next to her.

"You're always welcome to have Christmas with me," he offered "Although I'm doing scotch on the couch and Chinese food".

She smiled back at him "The traditional Christmas meal of my people".

An hour or so later, Britta had gone home and Jeff and Annie had moved to a small corner of the bar after a group of Greendale students edged them out of the booth. Jeff curled an arm around Annie to steady them in the crowd. "How's college? And the lab?"  
She shrugged, having to lean in to be heard "It's ok. It's good! It's going well. Sometimes I wish—" she broke off, shaking her head slightly. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened in our other timelines. Like, if I had gone with Vaughn, or stayed here, or taken another job. I wish I could press pause on my life and explore the other options" She tilted her head slightly, almost but not quite learning on his chest.

As always, Annie was keeping an eye on all of her potential options. Jeff swallowed the last of his scotch."We can always press pause for now" he ventured, softly, inadvertently tightening his hand on her waist before he realised what he was doing. The time between his question and her answer seemed to stretch out into hours before she nodded, once, and put her glass down on the nearby table. "Let's get a cab".

***

"Regular soy latte for Annie?"

Annie jumped, shaking her head to clear the memories of her first time with Jeff. They had taken a cab back to his place and she had left two days later, slightly dazed and punch-drunk, to collect her belongings from the small motel she was staying at and bring them back. Each time she had come back after that they spent most of their time together, and each time she left they reverted back to the friendship they shared, mocking and fussing over each other in group chats and facetime hangouts, tagging each other in online posts and emailing, late at night, their private worries and thoughts through college and career. Annie stared into her coffee cup as if it would give her the answer of what to do, now that she was home for good and their relationship had changed so much.

Five years was a long time to be playing this game and she was a grown woman at almost 30, a decade she thought ancient when she first started at Greendale and realised the ages of Pierce, Jeff and Shirley.

She looked up as a blast of warm air hit her; Jeff was walking through the doors, searching for her.

"I never noticed the grey until you're up close" she teased, hand twitching as she went to reach up to touch his hair, before stopping. He grinned back at her. "I've been told I look distinguished. Like a hotter George Clooney".

She felt his long legs brush hers as he slouched in his chair. They sat in silence for a few seconds, before Jeff cleared his throat. "So. You're back."

"I'm back."


End file.
